Emergency brake control



April 4, 1939. J. l, GUTKOWSKI EMERGENCY BRAKE CONTROL Filed Dec. 23, 1937 2 Illll .70

Patented Apr. 4, 1939 2,1535%- F' UNITED STATES PATENT oFFieE 2,153,506 EMERGENCY BRAKE CONTROL John I. Gutkowski, Jersey City, N. J. Application December 23, 1937, Serial No. 181,405 1 Claim. (01. 74-485) This invention relates to a braking system for tails thereof and is applicable to any brake sysvehicles such as automobiles and more particutem embodying an emergency brake control. larly to an emergency brake control therefor. A control shaft Ill is provided for the purpose It is the object of the present invention to proof actuating the emergency brake y the movevide an emergency control for vehicles which ment of the brake rod 30 and the consequent 5 is rugged in construction, easy to manipulate and actuation of the brake cam lever 32. This shaft conveniently accessible for the purpose of con- I is mounted adjacent to the steering column 2 trolling vehicle brakes by hand, particularly at by means of brackets rigidly mounted thereupon. times of emergency when it is necessary to bring In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a 10 the vehicle to a quick stop. metallic bracket I5 is shown mounted upon the Difficulty has been experienced heretofore in upper end of the steering column by th pthe use of emergency brakes by virt of th ing thereupon of two cooperating sections of the location of the emergency brake lever in a place bracket by means of bolts I6. A cylindrical requiring the diversion of the driver's attention hearing bu n which y h of f ent metal 15 from the task of operating and steering the autothan h metal of the k is Pr v d for 1 mobile at a time when that attention is needed the ep n of t c o af "1- Th s bearmost. It is the object of the present invention s bush m y be ma o b s or y o r to locate th emergency brak tr l lever suitable metal. Another bracket I8 is shown below the steering wheel of the vehicle so that m d on the st n um 2 av a beare this lever may be operated quickly and certainl ing l9 for the lower end of the control shaft I0. without requiring the operator of the vehicle to A number of s brackets a be d sp s d as turn his eyes away from the road o feel for t are considered necessary to obtain a strong and emergency lever in some other part of the vehicle. effective guiding 0 t c rol shaft n.

It is a further object of the invention to pro- A manually Operable ieVeI' Corresponding o a Vida an emergency brake control embodying a emergency brake lever is disposed below the 25 transmission mechanism from a conveniently ac- Steering Wheel 3 and is c cted W th the concessible point to the emergency brake rod which trel shaft to, as y e pp Hut o e e te may be conveniently disposed in either new cars the rotation of the shaft Pr y h s or in presently existing cars at low cost withemergency brake control v r xt nds y nd out impairing the certainty of operation of such the boundary of the Steering Wheel and is Oper- 30 a brake control system. able n a plane substantiallyperpendicular to the Other objects and purposeswill appear from axis of the control shaft. The lever H has incorthe more detailed description of the invention p d th e a wl element 22 which may b following hereinafter taken in conjunction with moved against the action of a Spring 25 on the the accompanying drawing, wherein: interior of the lever by the manipulation of the 35 Figure 1 is a, front elevation showing generlug 24 at the extremity thereof. The bracket l5 any t brake system di m herein; is provided with an extension 20 having ratchet Figure 2 is a 1eft levati n f Fi r 1; teeth 2| thereon cooperating with the pawl 22, Figure 3 is plan View of th assembly; and permitting a movement of the lever H in a clock- Figure 4 is a front, elevation of Figure 3 wise direction but preventing a reverse move- 40 ment of the lever without first releasing the pawl 22 from the field of operation of the ratchet teeth 2| by the manipulation of the lug 24. The ratchet segment 20 may be formed integrally with the bracket l5. To aid the guiding movethrough the chassis, from which steering column g g gg gg 53 gg gg fgfg g ggggfig connection 6 is made for the purpose of steering a 11 t t the automobile vehlcle. A foot brake 4 is shown g f g; %?5 3 3 1211 2 gi ig ggs:

cohhhcted with brake rod 5 which controls the possible a quick and convenient manipulation of 50 b a ng System 8 0f the eutemohiiehs disclosed the lever H for the purpose of rotating the conm detail in the brake system shown in the Smith 01 shaft m for applying t emergency brakes, Patent No. el e 1 1930- T which setting remains fixed until the brakes are brake system is not descrlbed in detail for the released by a return of lever H following a re- 55 present invention is not concerned with the delease of the pawl 22 by the lug 24. Of course 55 In Figure 1 is shown a conventional frame I of an automobile vehicle embodying as a part thereof a steering column 2, extending through the floor-board I, having a steering wheel 3 at 45 the upper endthereof and. extending downwardly these movements may be executed when the vehicle is either stationary or moving.

In order that the emergency brake control system present no interference to the existing arrangement of other elements in the motor car, a bowed elbow lever l2 may be mounted at the lower end of the control shaft 10 by means of bolts and nuts I4. Apertures 3| in this lever provide adjustable points of connection of the emergency brake rod 30 to the lever I2. The

intermediate portion of the lever is bowed in order to present no interference to the location of the steering column. As shown in Figure 3, a downward movement of the lever l I causing 'a rotation of the shaft in in a clockwise direction gives rise to rocking movement of the lever I2 in a direction away from the steering column 2 and causes a tensioning of the emergency brake rod 30 which in turn controls the emergency brake cam lever 32 in the conventional manner. The lever II is formed in such planes that a tight connection thereof with the control shaft may be made while permitting a direct pull to be exercised therewith on the brake rod 30.

While I have described my invention as embodied in' concrete form and as operating in a specific manner for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that I do not limit my invention thereto, since various modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the annexed claim.

What I claim is:

In a brake system for a vehicle having a steering column inclined to the vertical with a steering wheel at the upper end thereof, an emergency brake control shaft adjacent to said steering column and extending in parallel thereto, a bearing bracket rigidly mounted on said steering column and fitted with a bearing for said control shaft, an emergency brake lever connected to the upper end of said shaft below the steering wheel and extending beyond the boundary thereof and operable in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of said shaft to rotate said shaft, a ratchet on said bracket within the field of movement of said lever, a manually releasable pawl on said lever in engagement with said ratchet for holding said shaft in its actuated position, an elbow lever having one end thereof connected to the lower end of said shaft provided with a plurality of apertures at the other end thereof, said lever being bent around a portion of the periphery of the steering column to dispose the apertures therein at points spaced from the axis of rotation of said control shaft, and an emergency brake rod selectively engaging one of said apertures in said elbow lever.

JOHN I. GUTKOWSKI 

